Renovation Project - English informer in France

Renovation project - English informer in France

Recently I have started to write a weekly article for the English Informer in France. I do not know if you have ever heard of this on line publication, but for anybody with an interest in France it is an absolute must read, here is the description

The English Informer in France provides an interesting and entertaining mix of clear, relevant and engaging content. This includes an online business directory, news, features, advice, life in France, property, culture, finance, blogs and entertainment. Our online magazine offers regional media coverage, through easy to navigate, effective, user friendly pages.

We love to hear other people's stories, hobbies and events. We are passionate about creating a platform for them.

The English Informer in France will keep our pages stocked with great content, but your contributions are invaluable.  "Be part of the story." 

I know it was so lazy of me to cut and paste, but there is no point re writing something that is so clear.

So you can either take a look and enjoy the magazine or if you have a great story get in touch with them to see about being in print.

Here is a link to my latest article, and the magazine. I hope you enjoy

http://www.englishinformerinfrance.com/Jenny-and-John-in-France

Renovation project - Top 100 Renovation blogs on the web

Renovation project - Top 100 Renovation blogs on the web

http://blog.feedspot.com/renovation_blogs/

This week I received an amazing e-mail. The blog has been selected by Feedspot as one of the Top 100 Renovation Blogs on the web.

Yes that is right, one of the top 100 on the entire web!

I am still in a bit of a state of shock as even though I know the blog is popular and we have e-mails from around the world, we even have visitors from around the world. The furthest so far was a couple from Canada, that had actually come to view houses here in Huelgoat after following the blog!

But after the excitement, I started to wonder if it was legitimate, after all we had not entered any competitions, I have not even been blogging as much as I used too.

I decided to e-mail Feedspot and ask how and why, the response was fantastic, it wasn’t a case of applying, they found us.

Here is the reply:

We have considered following factors to rank the blog.

·         Search Engine ranking

·         Social media influence

·         Social media buzz

·         Alexa Ranking

·         Post frequency

·         Quality score by our editorial team

It really is a case of the blog has become award winning and one of the most widely read renovation blogs on the web.

We may not be number one but at 63 worldwide, I am happy.

click on the link to see all the other blogs Feedspot Top 100 Renovation Blogs

I still marvel at how my blogging career has come about, I think back to when I first set it up, it really was just a way to let family and friends know what we were up to. I had no blogging experience, though I had written a lot in previous jobs. But now here I am, an award winning blogger with a book under my belt and a weekly article in an online magazine.

I think I can safely say I am a very happy bunny

So there is nothing left to say other than thank you to everybody that has found us, followed us and read us.

Thank you we could not have done it without you.

Renovation project - Storm damage

Renovation project - Storm damage

A few day ago we had a horrendous storm, normally we are fully protected here in the town but as I woke I saw there was no internet on my  iPad, not a big problem as this happens often, I just need to move it around to find the signal again (actually I think I just need to get a new iPad, but that’s a whole other story) any way, I moved it around and nothing, so I do the next  best thing and go to make a coffee, but the cooker ring won’t light, it’s at this point I try the light switch and nothing. I check the consumer unit and nothing has blown.

We have no electric, this is the first time for us in the town. I give a friend a call to see if they are in the same boat and no, theirs had come back on at 9.30 am. So hopefully it won’t be much longer.

I suggest a lazy day watching TV (yes Johns reaction was the same!) so no TV, no problem we can read on the internet, yep same reaction. I can’t even read on the kindle as the battery is not full and my laptop lasts 5 minutes without being plugged in.

It’s at this point you begin to wonder what did people do before electricity. We actually went back to bed for a couple of hours, so much for my new resolution of getting up and doing stuff!

We are still without electric in the afternoon, but at least the wind has died down now, we actually go and check a few houses that we know where the owners don’t live here, luckily all are OK with no visible damage.

At this point we decide we may as well go shopping and as we are driving the we see the damage, there are trees down all over and in this part of France a lot of the electric cables are over ground, at the moment the cables seem to be a resting place for the trees there are so many of them. But there are also as many workers out and about getting it sorted.

As we are driving back we see a pile of rubbish in a field, this is odd as the area is so clean and assume it was the storm, that is when we realise we have just passed where a mobile home used to be situated. we turn round and go back for another look and yes the mobile home is the two piles of rubbish, the rest of the caravan is scattered across the field and in the hedge!

As we get home the electric has been sorted and we are fully back up and running, this was our first and hopefully last day of no electric.

Renovation project - Spring is in the air

Renovation project - Spring is in the air

this mornings view from the bedroom window

It seems to have been an age since I wrote anything, I’m not sure why but somehow life has got in the way. We are constantly making the house look good for viewings and to be honest we are actually sleeping an awful lot. Now for anybody who knows me this will be quite a shock as I do not sleep. If I manage more than 4 hours without waking I consider myself to have had a great night.

But it seems since I was ill I am able to sleep, and sleep a lot, I can happily stay in bed and lounge until mid day.

But it is time to stop, I must get a grip, I am drinking a few glasses of wine each evening, lounging in bed till mid day and not doing an awful lot during the day (when I read it out loud, it sounds like the perfect life!) but it’s not and I’ve been doing it for a few weeks. The party is over and it’s time to pull myself together.

I think maybe we have just taken a long break after finishing the house but this doing nothing is not good for either of us, John is raring to go and does not benefit from doing nothing, so it’s time to look for things to do to the house and I am going to get back to writing.

As I woke this morning I lay there and thought, if it is after 7.30 I will get up, I looked at the clock and it was 7.32, if only I had looked as soon as I woke up!

But I didn’t and here I am and to be honest I feel a lot better than I would’ve done had I lain in bed for another four hours. So hello everybody, it’s good to be back, I think, but I can hear my bed calling me...........